Placket-closure.



No. 697,860. Patented Apr. l5, I902.

L. w. LUELLEN.

PLACKET CLOSURE.

(Application filed Sept. 23, 1901.)

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I A UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PLACKET- SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters CLOSURE.

Patent No. 697,860, dated April 15, 1902.

Application filed September 23, 1901. Serial No- 76,141. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern/.-

Be it known that LLAWRENOE W. LUELLEN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Olathe, in the county of J ohnson and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Placket- Closures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to closures for the plackets of dress-skirts and the like, having for its objects the provision of such a device that shall efiectively prevent the accidental opening and gaping of the placket and at the same time shall not render the garment troublesome to put on.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a portion of a skirt upon the wearer with the placket provided with my improved closure. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the closure separated from the skirt in the position that it would normally assume in wear. Fig. 3 is a similar View with the ends separated, assuming the position for the putting on of the garment; and Fig. 4 illustrates the manner in which the two members follow and conform to one another in an extreme position of twist.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

A skirt 10, but a portion of which appears in Fig. 1, is provided with the usual placket at 11, with the under lap 12 extending inward from the edge of one of the back gores 13 beneath the adjacent gore 14 to more efiectively close the opening. The skirt may be buttoned, pinned, or secured in any ordinary manner at 15 about the waist of the wearer.

My improved closure 0 consists of a strip of very thin flexible and elastic material, conveniently of somewhat springy metal, whichis preferably made from one integral piece, bent at substantially its longitudinal center 15 to form two members 16 and 17, lying approximately parallel to one another. The members might, however,- be made separately and fixedly secured together in any desired manner. The member 16 may be attached at the edge of the gore 14 conveniently within the hem 16' and entirely covered thereby, ex cept the bent portion 15, which lies at the bottom of the placket concealed beneath the edge of the gore. The other member 17 is secured upon the face of the gore 13 at the edge of the under lap, preferably Within a casing 18, stitched thereon, this member also being completely covered save at the extreme lower end or bend. Openings 19 may be provided in both members through which they may be caught to the fabric by. loops of thread. To aid in keeping the upper end of the members in parallelism irrespective of the fastening of the skirt, they may carry a securing means, here shown'as of the balland-socket type, the ball 20 being upon the member 17 and the socket 21 upon the member 16, the members there being allowed to project above the hem and easing at these points or operating through openings.

If desired, the two members can be given a permanent set in manufacturing, which will increase the force with which they will be held together in use. This may be as illustrated in Fig. 3, the member 17 being of a form simi lar to that assumed in use,while 16 is curved in the opposite direction, so that normally when the independent ends are not held together the two will be considerably separated, but by virtue of this will hug one another closely when brought together.

When a skirt is in place upon the wearer with the upper free ends of the closure members held in proximity to each other, their elasticity tends to retain their intermediate points in contact however they are bent or twisted, the flexibility of the members being such that any movement that may be imparted to the fabric will be freely permitted. For these reasons the edges of the placket will not separate when the skirt is drawn to one side to raise it from the ground or from other stresses, yet free movement is not ham pered, nor is it necessary to use more than one fastening to secure the skirt.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A placket-closure comprising two flexible members fixedly secured together at one end and adapted to be attached to opposite edges of the placket, these members being normally curved in opposite directions.

2. A placket-olosiire comprising two flexi-' Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts,

ble members fixedly secured together at one United States of America, this 17th day of end and adapted to be attached to opposite September, 1901.

edges of the placket, one of these members LAWVRENOE \V. LUELLEN. 5 being of a form substantially similar to that Witnesses: I assumed in use and the other being curved WALTER E. LOMBARD,

in the opposite direction. SYLVANUS 'H. COBB. 

